Mine Mouth Coking/Coal Gasification Energy Optimization Study

This paper describes efforts to develop a study for the design of a coking/coal gasification facility to be located at mine mouth. This location has a variety of advantages including cost savings, transportation savings, improved environmental emissions, and improved electric supply. Although coke is an absolutely essential part of the iron making process, currently there is a shortfall of 5.50 million tons of coke per year in the United States. This approach offers a partial resolution of this formidable problem through the use of local coal supplies in a mine mouth, environmentally friendly, high efficiency coking/coal gasification facility which could significantly reduce the inadequacy of the coke supply and production, while, at the same time, reducing the cost for the steel industry. Such a high efficiency coking facility would also produce electricity for sale to the wholesale electric market, thereby reducing costs and environmental emissions and, at the same time, enhancing electric system reliability. The coke production process would take place near a local coal mine and, hence, would afford a transportation savings because a large portion of coal used by the coking facility would not have to be transported over a long distance. The coke produced from Illinois Basin coal is smaller in size than conventional metallurgical coal, but it would be usable in various applications and thereby reduce the need for conventional metallurgical coal. At times transportation costs exceed the cost of the coal itself. Total transportation cost would be reduced, since coke is less dense than coal. This process would transport coke, which is less dense, over the longer distances and would result in a cost savings from the reduced weight per mile of material being transported.